I'm feeling pretty good about the Yankees this year:
1) lots of young arms on the pitching staff 2) Girardi's got the team putting in major work on fundamentals this spring 3) They ditched their strength coach last May, so half the team won't be on the DL on Opening Day with hamstring pulls 4) Last year of the OG House that Ruth Built:
My Fantasy Draft is tomorrow night..
Joba = Starter or Middle Relief??
at this point i think he's going to be middle relief/set-up man. His starts in spring traning have been mediocre. That could definately change a few months into the season though.
That's my team, for better or worse. They should be better than last season, and they benefit from the NL Central continuing to be weak, but I still don't have huge hopes for them this year. I'm willing to be shocked though. The offense has never been in question, it's the pitching. Cordero as closer is definitely an upgrade but their middle relief can still be a huge question mark. Starting pitching has probably actually improved as they have some young arms that are set to emerge. All the talk's been about Homer Bailey the past couple years but so far this spring it looks like Johnny Cueto is the true phenom to watch this season, and getting Edinson Volquez from the Rangers looks like it might work out as well too.
The other thing is...Jay Bruce. This guy's gonna be a beast whenever he finally gets his shot, but another reason I'm pessimistic about this season to a degree is Dusty Baker. He's got Baseball America's minor-league player of the year in Jay Bruce, but instead the Reds sign Frickin' Corey Patterson and likely are going to keep Bruce in the minors until June to delay his free agency by a year. I have the feeling Dusty Baker's going to cause me to rip out my hair with his affinity for veterans when he's managing a team with a bunch of young players and up-and-coming prospects.
Don't forget we still have the best young pitcher in baseball.
Twins get the wild card this year, I hope. Depends on the bats. We have the arms.
You guys have a great farm system. It's a crying shame that your owner won't shell out the cash to keep your talent. Isn't he the wealthiest owner in MLB?
That's my team, for better or worse. They should be better than last season, and they benefit from the NL Central continuing to be weak, but I still don't have huge hopes for them this year. I'm willing to be shocked though. The offense has never been in question, it's the pitching. Cordero as closer is definitely an upgrade but their middle relief can still be a huge question mark. Starting pitching has probably actually improved as they have some young arms that are set to emerge. All the talk's been about Homer Bailey the past couple years but so far this spring it looks like Johnny Cueto is the true phenom to watch this season, and getting Edinson Volquez from the Rangers looks like it might work out as well too.
The other thing is...Jay Bruce. This guy's gonna be a beast whenever he finally gets his shot, but another reason I'm pessimistic about this season to a degree is Dusty Baker. He's got Baseball America's minor-league player of the year in Jay Bruce, but instead the Reds sign Frickin' Corey Patterson and likely are going to keep Bruce in the minors until June to delay his free agency by a year. I have the feeling Dusty Baker's going to cause me to rip out my hair with his affinity for veterans when he's managing a team with a bunch of young players and up-and-coming prospects.
God I love baseball.
Things are mos def on the up for cincy! Fogg is the sleeper in my opinion, he brought some stability to the rotation...with Volquez, Beslile & Bailey, there is definitely options. Watch out for Votto and Keppinger adding some firepower to the line up as well! Corey Patterson is a good thing, he takes the pressure off of Bruce and Hopper. Big things cincy!!!
Things are mos def on the up for cincy! Fogg is the sleeper in my opinion, he brought some stability to the rotation...with Volquez, Beslile & Bailey, there is definitely options. Watch out for Votto and Keppinger adding some firepower to the line up as well! Corey Patterson is a good thing, he takes the pressure off of Bruce and Hopper. Big things cincy!!!
I just don't see how Corey Patterson is a good thing. If they wanted to take the pressure off of Bruce they shouldn't have traded Josh Hamilton away. Even ignoring the trade of Hamilton, Patterson gives the Reds absolutely nothing they couldn't have taken care of with players already on their roster. Patterson has a career OBP of .298, but the Reds could instead just use Ryan Freel and his career OBP of .358, or Norris Hopper and his career OBP of .379, both of whom have played CF for the Reds. Why am I bringing up OBP instead of AVG or HRs or something? Because this spring Baker has been batting Patterson leadoff and OBP is the most important measure for leadoff. Freel and Hopper both get on base more than Patterson; Patterson ostensibly has more power than Freel or Hopper, but only marginally (like, 5 more HRs a year) and power isn't as big a deal when you're batting leadoff. But Dusty Baker loves him some veterans, and particularly veterans he's managed before, so Patterson is his boy.
I'm telling you, Dusty Baker is going to give me an ulcer. Batting Patterson leadoff is bad enough, but he's also been batting Adam Dunn 5th in the batting order which is ludicrous. Dunn has a career OPS of .900 and you're batting him in the middle of the order? What Frickin' sense does that make? If you ever want a good laugh just do a websearch on "Dusty Baker" and "clog the bases". See, Dusty doesn't believe in silly things like STATS and math, he believes in his gut. According to Dusty, guys who draw walks just "clog the bases". Well, Patterson won't be clogging the bases since he won't even be getting on base to begin with. Seriously, Dusty Baker is going to drive a lot of us Cincy fans insane this year. It's still the pre-season and the madness has begun. Take a look at A HREF="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080309/COL03/803090373/"> this article of batshit insanity,/A> and then read A HREF="http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2008/03/theres-war-brewing.html"> this hilarious and factually-based response/A>. If nothing else it'll probably be an "interesting" year for us Reds fans.
But don't be fooled. I bleed Astros rainbow and I still have high expectations for them this season.
You need to manage your expectations.
And Rock, JR was one of the GOATs. Miss me with that "coulda" bullshit.
The first mlb game I ever saw was actually a double-header: Braves and Astros a month before JR's blood clot. JR won and got a double. He was as tough as anyone that ever played. Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky beaned Craig Reynolds, who had tripled off of him earlier that game. JR led the bench-clearing near-brawl.
Incidentally, I've hated the Braves ever since.
Houston has about 1.5 pitchers this season, by my calculations (Oswalt and Backe). Jesus, it's gonna be a long summer.
Comments
at this point i think he's going to be middle relief/set-up man.
His starts in spring traning have been mediocre.
That could definately change a few months into the season though.
That's my team, for better or worse. They should be better than last season, and they benefit from the NL Central continuing to be weak, but I still don't have huge hopes for them this year. I'm willing to be shocked though. The offense has never been in question, it's the pitching. Cordero as closer is definitely an upgrade but their middle relief can still be a huge question mark. Starting pitching has probably actually improved as they have some young arms that are set to emerge. All the talk's been about Homer Bailey the past couple years but so far this spring it looks like Johnny Cueto is the true phenom to watch this season, and getting Edinson Volquez from the Rangers looks like it might work out as well too.
The other thing is...Jay Bruce. This guy's gonna be a beast whenever he finally gets his shot, but another reason I'm pessimistic about this season to a degree is Dusty Baker. He's got Baseball America's minor-league player of the year in Jay Bruce, but instead the Reds sign Frickin' Corey Patterson and likely are going to keep Bruce in the minors until June to delay his free agency by a year. I have the feeling Dusty Baker's going to cause me to rip out my hair with his affinity for veterans when he's managing a team with a bunch of young players and up-and-coming prospects.
God I love baseball.
I'm not. I'm just going to tune in around 7:30 when I normally get up. But I loves my
And so it begins.
Don't forget we still have the best young pitcher in baseball.
Twins get the wild card this year, I hope. Depends on the bats. We have the arms.
You guys have a great farm system. It's a crying shame that your owner won't shell out the cash to keep your talent. Isn't he the wealthiest owner in MLB?
Pohlad's wife was the Twins fan. Now that she's gone, he could give a fuck about the Twins winning. He's content to reap the profits.
Things are mos def on the up for cincy! Fogg is the sleeper in my opinion, he brought some stability to the rotation...with Volquez, Beslile & Bailey, there is definitely options. Watch out for Votto and Keppinger adding some firepower to the line up as well! Corey Patterson is a good thing, he takes the pressure off of Bruce and Hopper. Big things cincy!!!
I just don't see how Corey Patterson is a good thing. If they wanted to take the pressure off of Bruce they shouldn't have traded Josh Hamilton away. Even ignoring the trade of Hamilton, Patterson gives the Reds absolutely nothing they couldn't have taken care of with players already on their roster. Patterson has a career OBP of .298, but the Reds could instead just use Ryan Freel and his career OBP of .358, or Norris Hopper and his career OBP of .379, both of whom have played CF for the Reds. Why am I bringing up OBP instead of AVG or HRs or something? Because this spring Baker has been batting Patterson leadoff and OBP is the most important measure for leadoff. Freel and Hopper both get on base more than Patterson; Patterson ostensibly has more power than Freel or Hopper, but only marginally (like, 5 more HRs a year) and power isn't as big a deal when you're batting leadoff. But Dusty Baker loves him some veterans, and particularly veterans he's managed before, so Patterson is his boy.
I'm telling you, Dusty Baker is going to give me an ulcer. Batting Patterson leadoff is bad enough, but he's also been batting Adam Dunn 5th in the batting order which is ludicrous. Dunn has a career OPS of .900 and you're batting him in the middle of the order? What Frickin' sense does that make? If you ever want a good laugh just do a websearch on "Dusty Baker" and "clog the bases". See, Dusty doesn't believe in silly things like STATS and math, he believes in his gut. According to Dusty, guys who draw walks just "clog the bases". Well, Patterson won't be clogging the bases since he won't even be getting on base to begin with. Seriously, Dusty Baker is going to drive a lot of us Cincy fans insane this year. It's still the pre-season and the madness has begun. Take a look at A HREF="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080309/COL03/803090373/"> this article of batshit insanity,/A> and then read A HREF="http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2008/03/theres-war-brewing.html"> this hilarious and factually-based response/A>. If nothing else it'll probably be an "interesting" year for us Reds fans.
You need to manage your expectations.
And Rock, JR was one of the GOATs. Miss me with that "coulda" bullshit.
The first mlb game I ever saw was actually a double-header: Braves and Astros a month before JR's blood clot. JR won and got a double. He was as tough as anyone that ever played. Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky beaned Craig Reynolds, who had tripled off of him earlier that game. JR led the bench-clearing near-brawl.
Incidentally, I've hated the Braves ever since.
Houston has about 1.5 pitchers this season, by my calculations (Oswalt and Backe). Jesus, it's gonna be a long summer.